He had warned her about that book. Now it was too late. At the front door of Mr.Linden’s house Victoria stood with danger in hand. The thorny decorations of the book dug into her sweaty palm as her hand slipped and slid along the door handle, trying to get a good grip.
Victoria finally opened the door and escaped out into the open world, casually as she did not want to call attention to herself. The sidewalk felt smooth as she stepped on it with her pink sneakers. The feet in her white-and-purple checkered socks carried her all the way to the front door of her house, which neighbored Mr.Linden’s house, the one she had just hastily exited. As the lock clicked with the key pressed inside she remembered the not on the door that she saw as she had gone to return her book. “Victoria, I have gone on a short vacation. Feel free to continue to borrow my books until I return, just don’t take that book! See you in two days. -Mr.Linden”
As the sneakers slipped off of her checkered socks she started to look the book over. It had no title and definitely looked one-of-a-kind. A stinging pain hit her hand out of nowhere. She looked and saw the blood-covered tips of the thorny decorations of the book. The thorns were next to green roses. This confused Victoria as she had never heard of green roses, but she decided that was of little importance as she raced up the stairs.
The thought of how long the book would take to read bounced around in her head until it spat out an answer: two days. Upstairs, she raced through the open door and bounded onto her bed. Her fingers worked fast to find the first page, working to open a new world.
The number at the bottom read one as Victoria’s eyes raced back and forth, perusing every word. “Weird, “Victoria thought, “this character is very familiar with her short, red hair, hazel eyes, and kind approaches.” This interested Victoria and she read on. The girl’s name was Sorenitie and she did many things like Victoria. Sorenitie had friends were Hunter, Max, and Violet. They hung out at an ice cream parlor and live regular teenage lives. As Victoria read she wondered what was so bad about this book and pondered the green roses.
She heard the garage door opening and realized her mom was home. “Victoria honey?” shouted her mom, Agnes, “I’m home!”
“I’m reading Mom,” Victoria replied almost by routine. She slammed the book closed, to pick out another, and winced as the thorns pierced her soft skin. Victoria flinched, the book slammed against the floor, and Victoria sucked the blood off of her hands as she waited for the stinging pain to stop.
There was a thundering sound as Agnes raced up the stairs and into Victoria’s room. “Is everything all right?” asked Agnes as the observed the blood on Victoria’s hands and on the book “What in the world?”
“Its fine mom,” assured Victoria as she pushed her mom out of the room “Everything is fine.” The door vibrated as it got slammed shut. A tissue got lifted from its resting place and used to wipe the blood off of the thorns. The book was then placed on a free spot on her shelf reserved for the book she had of Mr.Linden’s.
She then slipped out one of her favorite stories …Then You Die. It was about a boy who was teased and bullied in school by kids who thought they were just joking around. Eventually at the climax he gets fed up and throws himself off of a cliff. Despite the fact that she had read it many times it still always brought tears to her eyes. It said “true story” on the front, but Victoria did not believe that any one could be so mean. Pages flipped until they rested, open to Victoria’s first place where she had cried when first reading the book. The sad scene was where one of the people the boy considered a friend called him a hippo. It brought tears to Victoria’s eyes, but reminded her to be kind at all times.
With her eyes wet Victoria filled the empty spot on her shelf and grabbed her MP3. She then proceeded to turn on her favorite radio station and slowly drifted off to sleep.
A sudden noise woke Victoria. She swept her hand from side to side, but could see nothing in the darkness. Knowing she would not get to sleep easily she took out the green book, wary of the thorns, and read more about the girl and seemingly normal life. Sleep swept over Victoria again, leaving danger open. While Victoria was fast asleep the green vines started to creep out of the spine.
The familiar sound of her alarm clock did not wake Victoria, but she woke at the same time nonetheless. Victoria yawned as she stretched her arms and looked around the room. Her eyes widened substantially as she saw the damage done to her room.
She checked her body for scratches and saw cuts on her arms and legs. Some were bleeding so she got out her first-aid kit. It should have been in her third drawer, but it was sprawled out in the middle of the floor. Victoria reached down and steadied herself as she got down from her blood-stained bed, then she used her hands to grab the bandage dispenser and started to pull some out to treat her wounds. But before Victoria applied them she snatched the prep pad from the floor and wiped down her wounds. Victoria grimaced as the wet pad hit her cuts and scratches and dripped the alcohol into the blood-filled crevices in her skin. Something peculiar caught her eye, a green rose.
The realization of school hit Victoria like a bundle of bricks. She salvaged a set of clothes and old running shoes. Her food twisted into her last shoe as she ran downstairs, grabbed a bagel, and slammed the door behind her. The sign shouted Reverend High at her as she neared her school.
The locker got bigger and bigger as Victoria came closer to it. Swinging her pink backpack hard into the large blue locker she called hers. On top of the shelf Victoria placed into her locker the second week of school was the green book! Victoria did not have time to speculate on this however because vines appeared out of nowhere and pulled her into the book. The book did not have time to fall to the floor as it disappeared too.
It felt like days went by as Victoria fell incessantly through a dark and empty space. After what felt like an even longer time Victoria popped out of the darkness and into what seemed like the regular world, with a blue sky, tall buildings. She fell and splashed into a conveniently placed pool. She climbed out and tried to find a towel. A door creaked as it opened as a person that looked exactly like the description of that familiar girl, Sorenitie, in the cook. The girl gasped and dropped the glass tray she was carrying, it shattered into what seemed a million shiny pieces. “Is it really you?” gasped the girl
“Who else would I be if not me? Who are you?” asked Victoria, still searching for a towel.
“You don’t remember me? It’s me Sorenitie! We used to be lost friends in school!” exclaimed Sorenitie ecstatically.
“Oh!” yelled Victoria, forgetting about her present problems “I always wondered what happened to you. Where are we?”
“Don’t you know? We are inside that book,” answered Sorenitie.
“What?!” Victoria exclaimed, “There has got to be a way out!”
“Nope, trust me. I’ve tried all of these years. But we can live a normal life down here,” sighed Sorenitie.
“Normal life?! There is no way living in a book is normal! I’m getting out of here. I know we have been friends since kindergarten, so I am taking you with me,” yelled Victoria angrily as she grabbed Sorenitie by the hand. Victoria led her to the first person she saw. “Hello? Would you by-“but Victoria was cut off as the person’s vine insides pressed against their human shell, cracking it at the limbs. The terrible monster had vines whipping out from all over him. They were thorny and green. The girls screamed and started to run from the creature.
In the real world Mr.Linden walked over to his house. He picked up the green book casually off of his front porch. He unlocked his door and entered the room filled with boxes, boxes filled with all his possessions, all his possessions filled with mystery. Mr.Linden placed the book in the only open box, checked this location on the map that he always carried around with him and expressed his happiness with a bony grin. The box closed on its own and all of the boxes packed themselves into a single suitcase flying into Mr.Linden’s tiny hand.
The moving truck pulled up in front of his house. Mr.Linden’s suitcase flew into the back and the driver was killed by thorny vines. Mr.Linden entered the driver’s seat and rode off to his next victim.
